BHP's Iron-Ore Output at Record High Fiscal Year-to-Date — Commodity Comment

BHP Group Ltd. on Friday said it produced more copper and less steelmaking coal in its fiscal third quarter versus the same period a year earlier. Iron ore production was flat. Here are some remarks from the quarterly report of the world's biggest miner by market value.

On iron-ore output:

"WAIO [Western Australia Iron Ore] production increased by 1% to a nine-month record of 188 million [metric] tons (213 million tons on a 100% basis), reflecting continued strong supply chain performance, including improved car dumper utilization and lower Covid-19 related impacts than the prior period. This was partially offset by a 24-hour safety stop across the WAIO business and a further two day suspension of rail operations following the tragic fatality, and the planned tie-in of PDP1, which remains on track to be completed in the 2024 calendar year.

The production ramp up at South Flank remains on track to reach full capacity of 80 million tons per annum (100% basis) by the end of the 2024 financial year. Current year performance has contributed to record year-to-date WAIO lump sales. Additionally, the deployment of autonomous haul trucks is well progressed and is expected to be completed by the end of the 2023 calendar year. There has been no significant damage or reported injuries at our WAIO sites as a result of Tropical Cyclone Ilsa in April 2023."

On copper production:

"Escondida copper production increased by 7% to 762,000 tons primarily due to higher concentrator feed grade of 0.79%, compared to 0.74% in the nine months to March 2022. The positive impact of higher grade was partially offset by the impact of road blockades across Chile in the December 2022 quarter, which reduced availability of some key mine supplies. Full year production has been lowered... as we manage geotechnical risk in a high grade section of the Escondida pit. This has led to a resequencing of the mine plan, resulting in lower volumes of mined ore and increased processing of lower grade stockpiles through the concentrators. Concentrator feed grade is expected to improve in the June 2023 quarter, compared to the nine months ended March 2023.

Olympic Dam copper production of 156,000 tons was an increase of 88% on the prior period, primarily as a result of the major smelter maintenance campaign (SCM21) across the December 2021 and March 2022 quarters. Continued strong concentrator and smelter performance has delivered record concentrate smelted for the nine month period."

On coal output:

"BMA production decreased by 2% to 21 million tons (41 million tons on a 100% basis) as a result of significant wet weather. This was partially offset by continued improvement in underlying truck productivity, in particular at Goonyella and Daunia following the completion of their autonomous fleet transitions, as well as reduced Covid-19 related labor constraints. In the nine months to March 2023, BMA has experienced the highest level of rainfall in the past 10 years, significantly impacting production."

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 20, 2023 21:38 ET (01:38 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.